Apex Luxuria A480
The Apex Luxuria A480 is a triple-deck, Wide-body,four-engine jet airliner manufactured by Apex Weapons and Technologies Internationale. It is currently the world's second largest passenger aircraft, beaten only by the Apex Jupiter 9000, and many airports have upgraded their facilities to accommodate it because of its size. Apex designed it challenge the monopoly Boeing and Airbus had on the world large-aircraft market. The A480 made its first flight on May 24, 2005 and entered commercial service in December 2006 with United Royal Airlines. The A480's two upper decks extends along the entire length of the fuselage, with a width equivalent to a wide-body aircraft. this gives the A480 nearly 35% more floor space than the next largest airliner, the Airbus A380, and provides seating for 708 passengers in a typical three-class configuration or 1,150 passengers in an all-economy class configuration. The A480 has a design range of 17,400 kilometers and a cruising speed of Mach 0.86 As of April 20, 2014, Apex has received 632 firm orders and delivered 137 aircraft. Development Background In mid-2000, a group of Apex engineers in the Apex Civilian Department began work in secret on the development of an ultra-high-capacity airliner (UHCA), both to complete its own range of products in the civilian aerospace market and to break the dominance that Boeing had enjoyed in this market segment since the early 1970s with its 747. The department was given approval for further evaluations of the UHCA after a formal presentation to the President and CEO in June 2001, adding the goal to beat Airbus with their announced A380. The megaproject was announced at the 2001 Farnborough Air Show. Apex organised four teams of designers, one from each of its partners to propose new technologies for its future aircraft designs. The designs were presented in 2002 and the most competitive designs were used. In June 2003, Apex announced its plan to develop its own very large airliner, designated the Luxuria. Apex considered several designs, including an unusual side-by-side combination of two fuselages from several older heavy fighter designs from the 1940s. The Luxuria was pitted against the VLCT study and Boeing's own New Large Aircraft successor to the 747. The Luxuria design converged on a triple-decker layout that provided more passenger volume than a traditional single-deck or double-deck design, in line with traditional hub-and-spoke theory as opposed to the point-to-point theory of the Boeing 777, after conducting an extensive market analysis with over 200 focus groups. Apex marketed of the huge cross-section touted the possibility of duty-free shops, restaurant-like dining, gyms, casinos & beauty parlours on board. On 19 December 2003, the supervisory board of newly restructured Apex voted to launch an $16 billion programme to build the A4XX, re-christened as the A480, with 50 firm orders from six launch customers. The aircraft configuration was finalised in early 2004, and manufacturing of the first A480 wing box component started on 23 January 2005. The development cost of the A480 had grown to €11 billion when the first aircraft was completed. Testing Five A480s were built for testing and demonstration purposes. The first A480 was unveiled in Asengard May 24, 2006. Its first flight took place at 10:29 am local time (08:29 UTC). This plane, equipped with four Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines, flew from Asengard International Airport with a crew of six headed by chief test pilot Sarah Foster. After landing, 3 hours 54 minutes later, Foster said flying the A480 had been "like handling a bicycle". On 1 December 2006, the A480 achieved its maximum design speed of Mach 0.98, over its design cruise speed of Mach 0.86, in a shallow dive, completing the opening of the flight envelope. In 2007, the A480 flew its first high-altitude test at Moles International Airport. It conducted its second high-altitude test at the same airport in 2009. On 10 January 2007, it flew to Dai Haitham International Airport in Dai Shihai, accomplishing the transatlantic testing, and then it went to Nassif International Airport to test the engine operation in high-altitude airports. It arrived in Elipida on 6 February 2007, landing in Moras in Northern Elipida for cold-weather testing. On 14 February 2007, during the destructive wing strength certification test, the test wing of the A480 failed at 175% of the limit load, 25% more than the required 150% level for the certification. On 19 May 2007, the A480 underwent evacuation certification in Asengard. With 8 of the 16 exits arbitrarily blocked, 853 mixed passengers and 20 crew left the darkened aircraft in 78 seconds, less than the 90 seconds required for certification. Three days later, the A480 received the United Royal Aviation Administration (URFAA) approval to carry up to 1,150 passengers. On 4 October 2007, the first full passenger-carrying flight test took place. The aircraft flew from Asengard with 474 Apex employees on board, in the first of a series of flights to test passenger facilities and comfort. In November 2006, a further series of route-proving flights demonstrated the aircraft's performance for 150 flight hours under typical airline operating conditions. Apex obtained type certificates for the A480-901 and A480-902 model from the URFAA on 12 December 2007 in a joint ceremony at the company's headquarters, receiving the ICAO code A492. The A480-901 model obtained its type certificate on 14 December 2008. Entry into service Dubbed the Superliner by the media, the first aircraft, MSN003, was delivered to Royal Kingdom Airlines on November 28, 2008 and entered service on December 1, 2008 with flight number SS308 between Elipida and Arcadus. Passengers bought seats in a charity online auction paying between $560 and in one case, $100,380. Two months later, Royal Kingdom Airlines CEO Michael Seros stated the A480 was performing better than both the airline and Apex had anticipated, burning 20% less fuel per passenger than the airline's 747-400 fleet. A480 at Stuttgart Airport]] Air Dai Shihai was the second airline to receive the A480 and commenced services between Dai Haitham and Asengard in August 2009. Blood Airlines followed on 19 September 2008, starting flights between Melhalgst and Luxor in October 2009. By the end of 2009, 980,000 passengers had flown on 2,200 flights totalling 21,000 hours. lines up for take off at Zusafki International Airport]]In January 2010, the one millionth passenger was flown with Blood Airlines and by March of that year 1,500,000 passengers had flown on 4,200 flights totalling 41,000 hours. Air Arcadus received its first A480 in March 2010. Luftgeist and Lufthansa received their first A480 in May 2010. By July 2010, the 31 A480s then in service had transported 8 million passengers on 17,000 flights totalling over 156,000 hours between 49 international destinations. Design Overview The A480 is offered in two models, the A480-900 and the A480-Lux. The A480-900's original configuration carried 708 passengers in a three-class configuration or 1,150 passengers in a single-class economy configuration. Then in May 2008, Apex began marketing a configuration with only 100 passengers with the addition of private bedrooms for the passengers and a casino and a restaurant in a self-stabilized compartment occupying the majority of the third floor, to better reflect trends in premium class accommodation. The design range for the −900 model is 17,400 km. Future variants may include an A480-900 stretch seating about 806 passengers (or up to 1,314 passengers in an all economy configuration) and an A480F freighter which could carry 200 tonnes of cargo with an estimated range of 20,400 km. The A480's wing is sized for a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) over 750 tonnes to accommodate these future versions, albeit with some strengthening required. The optimal wingspan for this weight is about 100 m, but airport restrictions limited it to less than 90 m, reducing fuel efficiency about 10% and increasing operating costs a few percent. The common wing design approach sacrifices fuel efficiency (due to a weight penalty) on the A480-900 passenger model, but Apex estimates that the size of the aircraft, coupled with the uses of advanced technology, will provide lower operating costs per passenger than the 747-400 and older 747 variants. The A480 also includes wingtip devices to reduce induced drag, increasing fuel efficiency and performance. Engines A480]] The A480 is available with two types of turbofan engines, the Rolls-Royce Trent 990 or the Engine Alliance GP7000. The Trent 990 is a derivative of the Trent 800, and the GP7000 has roots from the GE90 and PW4000. The Trent 990 core is a scaled version of the Trent 500, but incorporates the swept fan technology of the stillborn Trent 8104. The GP7200 has a GE90-derived core and PW4090-derived fan and low-pressure turbo-machinery. Noise reduction was an important requirement in the A480 design, and particularly affects engine design. Both engine types allow the aircraft to achieve well under the QC/2 departure and QC/0.5 arrival noise limits under the Quota Count system. The A480 has received an award for its reduced noise. The A480 was initially planned without thrust reversers, incorporating sufficient braking capacity to do without them. However Apex elected to equip the two inboard engines with thrust reversers in a late stage of development. The two outboard engines do not have reversers, reducing the amount of debris stirred up during landing. The A480 has electrically actuated thrust reversers, giving them better reliability than their pneumatic or hydraulic equivalents, in addition to saving weight. ]] The Auxiliary power unit comprises the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), the electronic control box (ECB), and mounting hardware. The APU in use on the A480 is the PW 980A APU. It is the world's most powerful APU, providing 1.3MW, which is 20 percent more powerful than the next largest APU in service. The APU primarily provides air to power the Analysis Ground Station (AGS) on the ground and to start the engines. The AGS is a semi-automatic analysis system of flight data that helps to optimise management of maintenance and reduce costs. The APU also powers electric generators which provide auxiliary electric power to the aircraft. Advanced Materials While most of the fuselage is aluminium, composite materials comprise more than 30% of the A480's airframe. Supercarbon-fibre reinforced plastic, nano-weaved supercarbon reinforced plastic and quartz-fibre reinforced plastic are used extensively in wings, fuselage sections (such as the undercarriage and rear end of fuselage), tail surfaces, and doors. The A480 is the second commercial airliner to have a central wing box made of supercarbon-fibre reinforced plastic. It is also the first to have a smoothly contoured wing cross section. The wings of other commercial airliners are partitioned span-wise into sections. This flowing, continuous cross section optimises aerodynamic efficiency. Thermoplastics are used in the leading edges of the slats. The composite material GLARE (GLAss-REinforced fibre metal laminate) is used in the upper fuselage and on the stabilisers' leading edges. This aluminium-glass-fibre laminate is lighter and has better corrosion and impact resistance than conventional aluminium alloys used in aviation. Unlike earlier composite materials, GLARE can be repaired using conventional aluminium repair techniques. Newer weldable aluminium alloys are also used. This enables the widespread use of laser beam welding manufacturing techniques, eliminating rows of rivets and resulting in a lighter, stronger structure. High-strength aluminium (type 7449) reinforced with supercarbon fibre was used in the wing brackets of the first 120 A480s to reduce weight while increasing strength. Avionics The A480 employs an Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) architecture, first used in advanced military aircraft, such as early Apex made fighters. The main IMA systems on the A480 were developed by Diawa Robotics. Designed and developed by Apex, Diawa and Diehl Aerospace, the IMA suite was first used on the A480. The suite is a technological innovation, with networked computing modules to support different applications. The data communication networks use Avionics Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet, an implementation of ARINC 664. The data networks are switched, full-duplex, star-topology and based on 100baseTX fast-Ethernet. This reduces the amount of wiring required and minimises latency. Apex used similar cockpit layout, procedures and handling characteristics to other Apex aircraft, reducing crew training costs. The A480 has an improved glass cockpit, using fly-by-wire flight controls linked to side-sticks. The cockpit has eight 15 by 20 cm liquid crystal displays, all physically identical and interchangeable; comprising two primary flight displays, two navigation displays, one engine parameter display, one system display and two multi-function displays. The MFDs were introduced on the A480 to provide an easy-to-use interface to the flight management system—replacing three multifunction control and display units. They include QWERTY keyboards and trackballs, interfacing with a graphical "point-and-click" display system. The Network Systems Server (NSS) is the heart of A480's paperless cockpit; it eliminates bulky manuals and charts traditionally used. The NSS has enough inbuilt robustness to eliminate onboard backup paper documents. The A480's network and server system stores data and offers electronic documentation, providing a required equipment list, navigation charts, performance calculations, and an aircraft logbook. This is accessed through the MFDs and controlled via the keyboard interface. Passenger provisions The cabin has features to reduce traveller fatigue such as a quieter interior and higher pressurisation than previous generation of aircraft; the A480 is pressurised to the equivalent altitude of 1,520 m up to 12,000 m . It has 70% less cabin noise, 80% more cabin area and volume, larger windows, bigger overhead bins, and 60 cm extra headroom versus the 747-400. Seating options range from 4-abreast in first class to 12-across in economy. On other aircraft, economy seats range from 41.5 cm to 52.3 cm in width, A480 economy seats are up to 48 cm wide in a 10-abreast configuration; compared with the 10-abreast configuration on the 747-400 which typically has seats 44.5 cm wide. A480]] The A480's upper, mid and lower decks are connected by two stairways, fore and aft, wide enough to accommodate two passengers side-by-side; this cabin arrangement allows multiple seat configurations. The maximum certified carrying capacity is 1,150 passengers in an all-economy-class layout, Apex lists the "typical" three-class layout as accommodating 708 passengers, with 10 first, 108 business, and 590 economy class seats. Airline configurations range from Luftgiest's 650 passengers to Air Dai Shihai's 1,100 passengers and average around 880–890 seats. The A480's interior illumination system uses bulbless LEDs in the cabin, cockpit, and cargo decks. The LEDs in the cabin can be altered to create an ambience simulating daylight, night, or intermediate levels. On the outside of the aircraft, HID lighting is used for brighter illumination. A480]] Apex's publicity has stressed the comfort and space of the A480 cabin, and advertised onboard relaxation areas such as bars, beauty salons, duty-free shops, and restaurants, even adding a variation with large bedrooms with king-sized beds and an internal stabilizing deck for a large casino or ball room. Industry analysts suggested that implementing customisation has slowed the production speeds, and raised costs. A480]] Initial operators typically configured their A480s for three-class service, while adding extra features for passengers in premium cabins. Luftgiest introduced partly enclosed first class lounges and rooms complete with a minibar. A year later Luftgiest had also introduced a 'shower-spa' on the first class deck, allowing each first-class passenger 10 minutes of hot water along with a bar lounge. In 2010, Blood Airlines revealed an upper deck electronic art gallery. In addition to lounge areas, some A480 operators have installed amenities consistent with other aircraft in their respective fleets, including self-serve snack bars, premium economy section, and redesigned business class seating. Civilian Defensive Systems In 2002, a small group of terrorists attempted to shoot down at an Israeli airliner as it was taking off only to miss. Noting the possibility of terrorist attacks, Apex had given potential operators the option to have their A480s fitted with radar-based, automated flare release countermeasures. Operators There were 137 aircraft in service with 10 operators as of January 31, 2014; these are Royal Kingdom Airlines (44), Air Dai Shihai (19), Air Antalya (19),Blood Airlines (12), Lufthansa (10), Luftgeist (9), Air Arcadus (8), Imperial Airlines (6), Minx Airways International (6), and British Airways (4). * Royal Kingdom Airlines first service on December 1, 2008 * Air Dai Shihai first service on February 3, 2009 * Air Antalya first service on April 27, 2009 * Blood Airlines first service on June 19, 2009 * Air Arcadus first service on March 17, 2010 * Lufthansa first service on May 6, 2010 * Luftgiest first serviced on May 23, 2010 * Imperial Airlines first service on 17 June 2011 * Minx Airways International first service on 6 October 2012. * British Airways first service on 24 September 2013. Incidents and Accidents The A480 has been involved in one aviation occurrence and no hull loss accidents with no fatalities as of January 2014, according to the Aviation Safety Network. * On 4 November 2010, Dai Shihai Flight 32, en route from Blood International Airport to Dai Haitham International Airport, suffered an uncontained engine failure, resulting in a series of related problems, and forcing the flight to return to Blood. There were no injuries to the passengers, crew or people on the ground despite debris falling onto the Buwama island. The A480 was damaged sufficiently for the event to be classified as an accident. Dai Shihai subsequently grounded all of its A480s that day subject to an internal investigation taken in conjunction with the engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce plc. A480s powered by Engine Alliance GP7000 were unaffected but other operators of Rolls-Royce Trent 900 powered A480s were also affected. Investigators later determined the cause of the explosion to be an oil leak in the Trent 900 engine. Repairs cost an estimated $139 million NSD. As other Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engines also showed problems with the same oil-leak, Rolls-Royce ordered many engines to be changed, including about half of the engines in the Dai Shihai A480 fleet. Specifications See Also *The Diplomatic Colony of The United Royal Kingdom of Elipida *Apex Bliss 300 Category:Aircraft